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The Pogues Singer, Shane MacGowan: ‘Ghosts Help Me Write Songs’

The Pogues frontman, Shane MacGowan, has revealed that some of his most notorious songs were written with the assistance of ghosts.

Speaking to the British website, The Quietus, MacGowan said, “I actually see people dictating to me behind me through… they call it the thirst eye, but the [Japanese] reckon you’ve got at least eight, apart from the two here. I’ve seen ghosts behind me in period costume dictating songs on a couple of occasions.”

MacGowan stated that their 1991 single, “A Rainy Night In Soho”, is an example of his ghost-writing. “I had no idea what it was about,” added MacGowan.” I had a vague idea by the time I got to the fourth verse but until then I hadn’t got a clue what was going on.”

The Pogues singer also revealed that he is lucky to be alive. His wife, Victoria, stated in the same interview that he’s ‘come very, very close to death. I found you not breathing once.’ MacGowan then went on to add, ‘A couple of times you’ve started my heart.’

It was then also revealed that Shane ‘jumped out of a moving car onto a motorway,’ and also ‘got hit by a taxi that was going quite fast,’ twice. About his death-defying antics, Shane MacGowan, said, “You know, some people are lucky, and some people aren’t. I’m a lucky guy, as a general rule.”

The Pogues biggest hit, “Fairytale of New York”, is currently the favorite to be the British Christmas number one, as it marks 25 years since the song was released.